To walk with God continually, we need to become steadfast.

Know your beliefs:

Steadfastness, or being steadfast, is being a person who knows what they believe and never backs down from it. We must know what we believe and whom we believe in. Hebrews 10:23 NLT says, Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep His promise. When we understand and believe that, we will become steadfast — never wavering from the truth.

Be consistent:

Steadfastness, I believe, will produce consistency. It will lead us to becoming consistent in our attitudes, consistent in our emotions. Moodiness is a lack of being consistent. We’re up one moment, down the next. We’re making decisions, one moment flying off the handle, and the very next moment calm and making calculated decisions.

Keep believing God:

Being steadfast is being constant in our beliefs. In other words, when things go badly, we don’t get too low; when things go well, we don’t get too excited. Steadfastness keeps on believing God, trusting God, and continuing to do the word of God. Why? Because we know God keeps His promises, and He is always for us.

So let’s believe God and cultivate the fruit — characteristics of being steadfast. It will help us in every area of our lives.

Just a thought,

PSS

As we go about our day, dealing with all the issues of life that confront us, serving people is something we should keep in the forefront of our minds.

Do not be self-absorbed:

Whether it’s family, work, relationships, or anything else, we should think of people first. I’ve observed that those who serve others in some capacity are usually happier than those who live for themselves. It keeps things in perspective.

Serve and help others:

When we visit a young person who’s fighting for their life against a sickness, it can cause those seemingly impossible and big problems in our lives to appear insignificant. A selfish life will always cause problems to be magnified in our own eyes and mind. Serving others will put things in perspective. When we see someone who is disabled or less fortunate, let’s remind ourselves to serve and help others.

We should be unselfish people with our lives. We will find it rewarding and well worth it.

Just a thought,

PSS

Choose Your Fear

Fear is defined as: to expect or worry about (something bad or unpleasant).

Innate fears vs acquired fears:

We are born with two fears: fear of falling and fear of loud noises. All other fears are learned. We are taught to fear or we have experienced something in our lives that created fear. Fear is said to be an acronym for false evidence appearing real. One study found that sixty percent of things feared never take place. Ninety percent of things feared are considered insignificant issues. Six million three hundred thousand Americans have a diagnosed fear. God says He has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline (NLT).

Godly fear: 

There is another fear that is healthy — it’s the beginning of wisdom. That is the fear of the Lord. This fear is not being afraid; it’s not fear of His wrath or a fear of eternal damnation. It is an affection for God — a reverence of Him. This is a healthy fear which is consistent with strong faith, great joy, and true courage. It’s an awesome dread of displeasing God — a deep respect of God.

Choosing your fear: 

People today believe they can become wise by life experience and academic knowledge alone. You get to choose your fear. One choice leads to the fear or fears the world brings: fear of flying, fear of failure, fear of death, fear of the dark, etc. There are so many of them. We can and will overcome our fears when we submit to the fear of God, when we serve Him because He is good and we respect Him enough to purpose to live by His word. The fear of the Lord is given to us when we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior. The fear of the Lord has no bad consequences with it — only hope.

So, let’s choose the fear that will bring blessing to our lives — the fear of the Lord.

Just a thought,

PSS

Have you ever doubted? I know I have. Doubt means: to call into question the truth of; to be uncertain or in doubt about; to lack confidence in, distrust.

Asking the whys:

Doubt goes in two directions. The first direction it leads to is unbelief. Unbelief is the opposite of faith. The other direction it takes leads you to the truth, to a greater belief in God and His word.

George Bernard Shaw said, “Any belief worth having must survive doubt!” We doubt — don’t we? We ask the whys: Why did my friendship end? Why did God not help me when I was being abused? Why can’t I find a spouse? This is all doubt.

Blaming God:

The children of Israel believed God did good and evil. But we should know better. We know God gives us only good and perfect gifts, and it is the devil who does evil. But as the Israelites did, people today blame God. We all doubt at one time or another. We will at times blame the circumstances — they are too hard or too big.

Believing God: 

The truth is: doubt at times will grow into great understanding if we never quit seeking God. When someone allows doubt to become unbelief, they are really questioning God’s ability to perform. If you doubt yourself too long, then it turns into an unbelief of yourself — you will lose hope. We may all doubt ourselves, our abilities, but we should never allow it to turn into disbelief.

There is always hope with, and in, God.

Just a thought, 

PSS

Good advice is not always godly advice.

The highest standard:

We should weigh every decision against the word of God. When faced with a problem or a tough decision, we should go to the word of God and take our counsel from it. When we are at a crossroads in our life, what we put our trust and confidence in is important. It is the difference between life and death, success and failure, overcoming or being conquered by something or someone. You are the only one who can decide for your life — no one else can decide for you. 

What you believe in:

What a person believes is very important to their life. IF you choose to believe in the word of God, and you have complete trust and confidence in the word of God, it will bring life to all your being. Proverbs 4:22 NLT says, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body. This is speaking about the word of God.

The final say:

Allowing God’s word to have the final say will keep you safe, protected from making decisions that could cause harm to your life and well-being. God’s word is full of wisdom — we must hold on to it, trust in it, and have confidence in it.

It’s your choice. You choose whom you will serve.

Just a thought,

PSS